Meriss Ainsworth
Meriss Ainsworth is an undead human apothecary and mage who in life studied into the magic schools of conjuration, evocation of cryomancy and fairly basic divination. Being born into the wondrous city of Dalaran, she was a well-focused student who later perished within the same city during the Scourge Invasions. Now residing near Undercity as Forsaken, she has aided her past abilities of magic and new comrades through tempted study into the darker magics of necromancy alongside harbouring a place inside the Royal Apothecary Society. =Description= ---- This forsaken carries herself hunched forward with slight bent knees from obvious muscle degeneration from years of being undead. Her skin is a pastel near white, with very skinny bodily features leaving her weight notably low. One would also notice how emaciated her facial and body structure has become, looking rather 'alive' with the amount of maintenance through make-up, embalming fluids and dyes. Her hair is neatly kept, remaining tied in three areas and dyed purple. Outfits for Meriss typically consist of silken fabric robes, belts to help hold necessities, gloves and footwear. Upon her head lays a series of two leather straps nailed into her skull with metallic bolts as a willing bodily modification to further propagate her ever declining bone health. To her side lays her decorative stave with crystalline endings, and an enchanted floating lamp or book to her back. =History= ---- Youth The young human was born during the last few years of peace before the approaching First War to busy magi parents Clarinda and Merrell Ainsworth within the grandiose City of Dalaran. Much of the young girl's early years were almost tranquil, with Meriss growing ever fascinated by the magics her faithful distant parents often displayed. Upon her reaching of the correct age, Meriss was enrolled into basic formal education, with tutors on the side to help her in her early studies. Through her first decade of existence Meriss was a decent student of average grades, always trying to better herself and finish assigned tasks on time. Her studies were supplemented with tasks including basic arcane-related activities, to help bolster an understanding of skill. She did not possess a great number of friends, and this fact happened to bother her little, being the type of academia. As conflict began to brew on other reaches of the land with her home city showing little response to the Green threat, she remained blissfully unaware and her studies were uninterrupted. Through her teen years, Meriss continued to study into the arcane and had advanced to higher topics. Further uninterrupted by the on-coming Second War, she choose education over physical service. Her skills in conjuration sprouted in this period, allowing her to dip her fingers into the coldness of cryomancy. To continue paid study, Meriss was tasked with finding a source of work around her city. She'd eventually find her place working in a shop of useful reagents, helping in the back to organise and shift around product to help keep said store orderly. She would often be seen taking the impromptu position as shopkeeper when times required. The following years into her adulthood followed the same tune, with notable memories being the conjuration of a magical construct known as Glacis, which resembles an elemental of ice. Another was the achievement and binding of a Kirin Tor Familiar to her as she graduated one of her classes. Both companions remain with her to this day. Scourge Invasion It would seem Meriss's life of peaceful academia would come to a climbing halt, as the claws of the Scourge Invasions had dug into her city over time. Her suffering city amassed grand amounts of panic as screams and the sound of scampering feet of the magi eagerly trying to form a defence echoed through out. Her locked-down class at the time were called in as desperate aid, moving to the front lines to help secure a line from the horrid undead aside more powerful magi. Many did not agree upon the plan, choosing to bicker about it while some did see the heroic sense within it; such as Meriss had done so. She put a decent defence for a while with the others, flinging her fledgling frostbolts at encroaching undeath. Sadly enough, her valiant shield of ice would not take the brunt from an unexpected mindless undead who had stood behind her. Meriss, in her prime, was surely struck down by said scourge. This signalled fleeing within the others, and quite unfortunately enough with the already broken morale, she was not the only one to go in her group. It was only a matter of time before Meriss was up and walking once more. Clambering within the horde of undead, spreading evil plague and unfair undeath to those who had no deserving of such a fate. She wandered aimlessly as with others of her kind, ever moving to consume the dying sparks of life around them. It is rather unknown to which how much time she was in this horrid mindless state, but sapience was thankfully all not lost. As the Lich King in the far North began to lose his mental influence, dripping out like a bleeding seeping wound, Meriss would eventually awaken once more and so she did. Within the fields outside her ravaged city, Meriss stumbled about confused and dazed. She struggled to regain her bearings, feeling she had just woken upon from a dreamless night's sleep. Looking upon a ravaged wall of the city, she felt unease mixed with fear from the apparant lack of up-beat ambience from lively civilisation. Adventuring to one of the gates in a confused stupor, she found another empty ravaged street devoid of people. Continuing forth downwards the street, the apparant silence was shattered. A burly elven mage stared daggers in her direction, calling out in alarm at her presence of undeath. Tears in her eyes, she called out in denial of being undead, to which was clearly ignored. More magi came to the elf's side, launching their own arcanic bolts towards the defenceless woman. One of these bolts would directly collide with the woman, knocking her flat onto the lavish street. Screaming at this point, she got to her feet, quickly fleeing into the fields once more as bolts followed her trail out. She'd surely find herself further deep within her stupor in the sprawling fields, in deep denial of her apparant curse. Her mind questioned her situation deeply to no avail, strange memories here and there. She was surely alone at this point as she felt, spending a few nights within the bush in hiding with a strange lack of hunger and sleep. Choosing to leave the wooded area to which she had stayed within, she came face-to-face with another of her affliction. Fearful at first, Meriss yelled and demanded the undeath leave her be. The two would be in equal protest for a number of minutes with one yelling and the other trying to comfort. After Meriss eventually calmed, the undeath introduced herself as Breigh Farley. The two began to chat, seemingly on edge but somewhat comfortable. Meriss noticed the woman suffers similarly enough to herself, the two surely did not know what had happened to themselves. As time passed evidentially, the duo would stick together. Forsaken Sticking together for a time, Meriss and her new friend Breigh were discovered by some of the Forsaken undeath. Both remain initially cautious, but these new faces explained the condition to the duo with their own personal experiences to form a relation. They happened to also speak of their faithful queen Sylvanas Windrunner and what she has done for the unification of such afflicted with such goals to build a community. Being offered a friendly metaphorical hand, the duo accepted to follow along out of slight closure with a tinge of distrust. They were momentarily taken along to the Undercity to be shown of their new home, if they very much so wanted it. The duo eventually knew they'd have no where else if they were certainly undead, knowing their respective families would likely turn hostile at such a sight. Coming to such a conclusion over time, they both decided to settle within this strange crypt. As time progressed further by, the duo would eventually go their own ways naturally. Breigh would re-discover her skills with the blade, and Meriss with the arcane. Despite the rediscovery of her abilities, Meriss remained a reclusive husk during the first few months since branding herself as Forsaken. She would often rest on the lower levels of the Undercity, piecing together the memories of her last remembered moments, with a growing dislike of educational staff at her academy within Dalaran, blaming them for her death for sending her class out onto the field. Speaking to more of her kind over time, she came to view the living more harshly, exposing self-conceived flaws. Having this, her confidence began to sprout once more, and the shy woman of devoted academia was little to no more in a matter of mere months. Having begun to practice her magic in the Undercity's Magic Quarter, she took a keen interest in the study of alchemy and the Royal Apothecary Society, applying herself for a position within it as an apprentice. Her informative mind, and skills for collecting information surely surpassed the grave's touch, allowing her to better succeed in the society over the next few years. She learnt skills such as fleshcrafting to fix her rotting body and others, potion craft to aid in the creation of the Forsaken Blight, all the while continuing to build her skills of the arcane, straying closer to that of a renegade Hedge Mage. Following this, she developed a slight interest within the darker magics of Necromancy, a further hobby to better herself in her job and new beliefs as she thought. Settling into this new lifestyle, Meriss settled a mortgage on a smallish dwelling within the Tirisfal Glades, nearing the village of Brill. Having a source of proper income and some respect within her circle, Meriss began to explore herself further. Abandoning most of her prior life, she adopted the religion of the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow, feeling their values match her own. Besides this, she took to proper upkeep of her 'new' visage and form, procuring numerous sources of embalming oils, make-ups and dyes to keep herself in a good-looking manner. One could argue that this movement was the tumbling of a lost mind, or a road to a new beginning. Present Day Having spent clearly over a decade in undeath, Meriss has changed from a shy, cheerful and helpful studying student within a prestigious city of magic, into a colder, more confident and somewhat selfish being who cares more of her looks and the arcane than the lives of the living. She has seen deployments with the Royal Apothecary Society to areas requiring them, and has even acted as tutor of the arcane within the Undercity in some instances. To this day she can be seen wondering the places of the living New Horde attempting conversation out of boredom, performing apothecary tasks or simply doing mage stuff. =Personality= ---- Once a being who enjoyed a life of study and learning, has truly become one apathetic during undeath. Meriss is a forsaken who values her magic ability and fellow undead more than most of the living, finding self-conceived flaws through-out their values. Despite this, she feels more of a loyalty to her fellow kind than the Banshee Queen, who she believes is abandoning her people to the New Horde. Aside from this, she could care less of faction wars and remains rather dismissive and uncaring to the plights of the living, feeling almost betrayed by them. She can come off as an almost sociopathic and selfish individual, caring more to her personal studies into the arcane and necromancy, her beauty and the apothecary. Even with these feelings, there remains a softer understanding and even compassionate side to this forsaken, often reached by those very close to her. Ironically enough, children are an easy passage to said aspect, with Meriss still viewing the purity within them. Now remaining purposely disconnected from memories of her prior life and family; she has settled her new religious values within that of the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow, feeling it exposes well the 'blinded' followers of the Holy Light. Feeling a despise towards most of the Grand Alliance for their hypocrisies such as the willingness to accept 'nicer-looking' death knights, she is ever scornful towards them and those residing in the walls of her former city. Being born into a life of fruitful study, she applies herself as a strong visual learner. She is quite pleased with keeping to herself with a nicely written novel or texts. She remains reasonably talented in the magic schools of conjuration, evocation of cryomancy and fairly basic topics of divination. Her line of work often sees her utilizing skills within herbalism and alchemy, with fleshcrafting and ever inquisitive ventures into the realm of necromancy magics on the side, to ever enrich her base skills. =Companions= ---- Meriss often happens to keep a companion or two by her side, be it for simple company, physical protection or research properties. Glacis Glacis is Meriss's 'bodyguard' arcanic construct that resembles an elemental of ice. Its body is made from crystallised arcane ice and water achieved through evocation, and has a slight purplish glow from the magical energies within. Hovering above the ground ever so slightly, it nears its creator's height. Being a rather simple being with an unending loyalty, Glacis has existed for most of its creator's life, being originally bought into existance back when Meriss was alive. With a simple intelligence, Glacis is unwavering in completing tasks provided to it by its master, ever responding with its child-like intelligence gained from consuming arcanic energy. Wrappings Wrappings is the appropriate name for the loved rotted hawk raised into undeath by Meriss as one of her so-called projects. It gets its namesake from the numerous amount of cloth wraps upon its body that covers and spans its length. These wraps truly disguise at how far this poor bird's body has gone, with most of its skeletal structure unfortunately exposed and a lowering amount of feathers left. Nevertheless, Wrappings has proven to be a good animal companion for Meriss over a period, and has broaden his raiser's studies into necromancy. Category:Characters Category:Forsaken Category:Undead Category:Mages Category:Arcanists Category:Royal Apothecary Society (Forsaken) Category:Necromancers